DownsMail In touch with your parish


Continued from page 38 vehicles. Mr Lewis asked for the speed limit to be reduced to 30mph, traffic calming measures and restrictions on vehicle size. It was suggested that some of


the remaining Big Lottery fund- ing could be used for an auto- matic traffic count. CllrWilson suggested a petition. Cllr Charl- ton agreed to invite a represen- tative from Kent Highways and KCC Cllr Paulina Stockell to a meeting to discuss the issue. Cllr Charlton reported a fly- tipped suitcase in the gateway opposite Lone Cottage on Lower Road. The clerkwas to report it. Cllr Beasley asked for an up-


date on the missing kissing gate on footpath KM32.The clerk said the public right of way offi- cer wished to leave it for now, but Cllr Beasley asked that it be pursued. The school had asked for ac-


cess via the recreation ground for Mouchel Parkman, which was going to be working at the school playground. This was agreed, as long as it made good any damage caused. With regard to auditing the village’s heritage and ecology, Cllr David Hussein had sug- gested a further possible site for the bridge information board – on the edge of the Horsewash area, opposite the village sign. The council agreed to this. Cllr Hussein said he had had two re- sponses to his press release and a local artist had offered to help with the walking guide. Ray Morris summarised the results of the recent traffic sur- vey and said everyone wanted to slow traffic down. Ben Hilden, of Kent Highways, felt the alterations to the Dean Street/Forge Lane junctionwere do-able. He was also positive about creating options for traffic calming in Lower Road around the Station Hill/Vicarage Lane junction and was prepared to put together some proposals. It was agreed to contact Cllr Paulina Stockell about her offer to fund the signage at Montes- sori School. The village fete date was set


for July 6. Cllr Charlton agreed to talk to Cllr Steve Shearman about it. More volunteers were needed to help. The annual parish meeting


heard the future of East Far- leigh Brownies was in danger unless a new leader could be found. A volunteer was needed to take over by September. Potholes in many village


roads caused concerns and resi- dents welcomed a start by Kent Highways on repairs in Lower Road. The pre-school reported a


tough year but said with economies it should break even. The 400-year-old almshouses


in Workhouse Lane had been re-roofed.


46 South


Forge Lane Action Group had completed its work on provid- ing a footpath and will be dis- banded with funds supporting the new car park. A full plot and half plot were vacant at the charity allotments. The successful historical so-


ciety will have five meetings next year. There were now football


teams for under 9s, 11s, 13s and 14s. The under 11swon the fair- play trophy and the under 14s the league.


Membership of the Women’s Institute was nowmore than 60. The farmers’ market in- creased in strength on the first Sunday of the month in its new church hall location. Ten chari- ties benefited last year. The church hall had been im- proved and redecorated and bookings were doing well. Police reported a general re- duction in crime and anti-social behaviour, local surgeries con- tinued at Coxheath Library and stop checks had led to arrests. The church reported further


work was needed on the roof as water still came in on the north wall.A new heating system was being investigated. Medway Valley Community


Rail Partnership reported jour- ney numbers continuing to rise on the line serving the village, where a covered cycle shelter had been provided and car park use grows.


Chairman elected CLLR Malcolm Ireland pro- posed Cllr TimTurnill as chair- man, and this was agreed. Cllr Turnill recommended Cllr Ire- land as vice chairman and this was agreed. Cllr Ireland said a meeting


East Sutton Council


was to be arranged with Kent Highway Services to look at out- standing highways issues. Harry Skinner had cleared around the Filmer Hall. The clerk had reported over- grown trees and vegetation in Church Road. Cllr Elizabeth May agreed to complete aweekly inspection of the play area.


Playground work THE wet pour kits and seats for the playground await installa- tion when the weather im- proves. A quote would be requested for seats for the skate park similar to those by the side of the play park. Cllr Pat Parr had requested


Egerton Council


that the footpath behind the houses on the Glebe be closed off for safety reasons. It was noted that a footpath sign in the orchard behind the church had fallen over. The road collapse on the cor-


ner of Crockenhill and Forstal Road would be reported again.


The parish plan forum was attended by 150 residents out of 833 on the electoral roll. The parish plan is a sub-committee of the parish council and is to do with the wishes of the village as a whole, not just planning is- sues. A neighbourhood plan is more to do with planning in th village and surrounding areas. Following lengthy discussion,


it was agreed to change the for- mat of the parish assembly into a more interactive way of in- forming residents of all that goes on in the village. Clubs and societies would have an area to display information and have Q&A sessions. Inconsiderate driving/speed-


ing along Mundy Bois Road was discussed in detail and it was felt that the existing signage and restrictions were sufficient. It was hoped that raising the issue would result in parishioners paying more attention to their speed and giving more consid- eration to other road users espe- cially pedestrians and horse riders.


Headcorn Council Traffic suggestion


FOLLOWING a site meeting with Kent Highways, a sugges- tion had been put forward for a priority turning scheme at the junction of Forge Lane/High Street. This would now be in- vestigated by the KCC trans- portation team. The Citizens Advice outreach session had been moved to the first Tuesday of the month be- tween 1.15pm and 3.15pm. The drain in Dawks Meadow


had been jetted and any surface water should now disperse. The area would continue to be mon- itored. A meeting would be arranged


with Maidstone Council to dis- cuss the future management of the recycling site, particularly the cleaning. In response to a complaint


about dog fouling, Maidstone Council was organising a bag and flag event in conjunction with a local resident and the community warden. A resident had asked about


the possibility of placing a new bus shelter outside the kitchen shop in the High Street. It was agreed to forward this to the open spaces committee to view the site at its next village walk and also to contact Kent High- ways on the viability. An email was received from Maidstone Council regarding the responsibility for lighting provision. It was noted that the parish council lights would be considered for adoption only where it was highway lighting. It must comply with the current design and KCC specifications or be brought up to that stan- dard at the parish council’s ex- pense, before it can be adopted.


To contact Downs Mail just phone 01622 630330


A meeting was to be held with KCC’s street lighting engineer to discuss the issue. The domain names and a tem-


plate would be purchased from moonfruit.com for the new vil- lage website. The neighbourhood plan vil-


lage questionnaire for parish- ioners and businesses was agreed and its distribution au- thorised. A questionnaire web template was being purchased from surveymonkey.com. It was resolved to purchase a Stryker Polecat CCTV camera. Rubbish had collected in the corner outside the ladies toilets. It was noted that football was


being played in the play area which was not acceptable. The community warden would be asked to monitor the area. At the annual meeting, Cllr


Lyn Selby was elected chair- man of the council with Cllr Dave Fox as vice-chairman.


Hunton Council Response team


PCSO Jo Watts offered to con- tact other parishes to see if they would like towork with Hunton in setting up a community emergency response team. David Smith of KCC had pro-


vided a works schedule for the footpath from Bensted Close to the village hall. Delays in the project were discussed and it was agreed the contractors should be contacted to establish what was happening. The clerk had attended a meeting with Ben Hilden of KCC, county Cllr Paulina Stock- ell and Sue Wood of Hunton Primary School to discuss any outstanding issues on the West Street gateways. Mr Hilden would be discussing the exten- sion of the 30mph speed limit to the village hall with Cllr Stock- ell.


KHS had agreed to extend the


white lining to Bensted Close. Road patching would be carried out from Church Cottage to Ben- sted Close along the ditch side. Potholes were to be repaired


inWater Lane,West Street, East Street and Upper Hunton Hill under the find and fix policy. The clerk was asked to re-


quest the renewal of the white lines in the centre of the road down Hunton Hill as they were barely visible in places. A broken drain on the corner


of Bishops Lane andWest Street would be reported to Kent High- ways. The School Keep Clear mark-


ings and centre line outside Hunton School would be re- painted. A grant of £1,800 from KCC


had been received for Speed- watch equipment which had been purchased. Borough Cllr Dennis Collins


said the 7.5T signs outside Stonewall had been knocked


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